Afton Random Books

Main AU: A Visit

-MA-

"Ah—damn, I'm sorry." Julia picked up her sketchbook which had fallen after she accidentally bumped into a man while walking home.

Her sketchbook had been taken before her hand could reach it, Julia stared ahead and the red-haired man held out the book, so she took it back. Her gaze was still fixed even though the man glanced away and left without saying anything, a flabbergasted expression. Even so, she yelped in surprise and once again dropped her sketchbook due to her shoulder was hit from behind, but before she could fall forward someone grabbed her.

"Oops, sorry, Miss, I didn't see you."

Julia exhaled softly and nodded slowly while waving her hands after she had regained her balance, her eyes wandered to look for the figure of the man but it seemed like she had lost him. So, she turned around to face the person who accidentally bumped into him, taking her sketchbook from the other man.

A pair of blue eyes looked at her interested. "You like Marvel?"

"Hm? Oh yes." Julia nodded one more time and pulled a smile on her face, it seemed that the contents of her sketchbook were accidentally seen by the man. "You follow Marvel too?"

"Yeah, I even have the comics at home." The man shrugged his shoulders while chuckling. "Your sketches are cool."

She raised both eyebrows. "Thanks," she replied sheepishly. Rarely did anyone praise the drawings she made, she also rarely found people who have the same hobbies as her in real life, most of her friends are online friends so this praise was a little embarrassing. "Do you draw too, perhaps?"

"Yep! I draw and paint."

Paint? Wow. "Cool," her response sounded so awkward, Julia cursed inwardly. "How long have you been painting?"

The man seemed to remember something for a moment. "I think twenty years or more." His tone sounded relaxed when he answered, Julia didn't believe his reply at all, he looked like a 27-year-old man, so there was a possibility that he had been painting since childhood.

"That's really impressive," Julia said quietly, earnestly, earning a faint smile from the man in front of her. "Can you—ah!"

A girl with auburn hair suddenly ran in the middle of the two of them, making her quite surprised and take two steps back. Not long after, another man who was turning towards them accidentally bumped into her, successfully causing her to fall. What's with her bumping so many guys today? The person even cursed at her before running back.

"Are you okay?" The brown-haired guy reached out his hand and helped her up, she just nodded with a sigh.

"By the way," Julia immediately changed the topic while dusting off her clothes, "can you give me some tips?"

"For painting?"

Julia mumbled shyly. "Yeah."

That guy laughed. "I'm not good at explaining, but maybe I can show you. How about it? My house isn't far from this place. No coercion, of course."

That's not a bad offer, actually. "With pleasure."

She followed where the man stepped, they walked out of the park and along the sidewalk, entering a residential area. This housing was quite elite, as far as she knew. At least a small upper middle financial class can occupy it. They walked for a few minutes, then stopped in front of a house with light cream walls. She looked at the man telling her to come closer as he opened the door of the house, inviting her to enter first.

While he closed the door, Julia took off her shoes so as not to dirty the wooden floor. Her eyes watched at the interior of the house in awe, until her gaze fell on the red-haired man who came down the stairs. That was the man she bumped into earlier. She was stunned once again, the sound of the door locking was heard, and the next thing she knew was that her neck was being grabbed tightly and being swung hard onto the wooden floor. Her forehead hit the floor, blood poured out, and she felt dizzy.

Her vision blurred, Julia felt her heart beating too fast in her chest seeing the blood clots on the floor with her head throbbing in excruciating pain. Before she could react, her shoulders were grabbed and she was forcibly spun around, her blood felt like it was going down her legs quickly, the nausea was rising, that magenta eye was intimidating.

"Filthy hand."

Julia screamed as she fell back to the floor and the hard-soled shoes stepped on her elbow joints until a loud breaking sound was heard, her tears began to flow and became one with the blood flowing from her forehead.

"Vincent will scold you if he finds out you stain the floor."

She watched how the man rolled his eyes boredly. "Papa won't care as long as we don't stain the carpet."

There was one thing on her mind now; run. Run from here.

Desperately, trying to block out all the pain, Julia got up and tried to dart towards the back door. Even though her head felt like it was going to explode, the pain from the broken arm was intense, she felt like her arm bones were hanging from joints that were no longer connected. There was the sound of laughter behind her, as well as the sound of footsteps.

"Where are you going, Miss?"

Julia felt her breath hitch and she pushed a small table to block the man. The man deftly caught the flower vase so it wouldn't fall even though the table ended up lying on the floor. "Hey, be careful," he said in an annoyed tone. "My father wouldn't like it if you messed up the house."

Who cares? Julia ran faster towards the back door, but the footsteps behind her followed her louder, kicking her ankles until she fell. He screamed again when she felt a sharp object piercing her calf, tears often flowed when she saw the man swinging the second pen to pierce her calf until it penetrated, there was a burning sensation that spread accompanied by soaring pain. The brown-haired man had a faint smile, while the red-haired man stood behind him with a flat face, folding his arms in front of his chest while leaning against the wall.

He then crouched in front of her, a hand grabbed her face, thumb pressed against her leaking forehead, making her sob even more broken. The bloodied thumb traced her face, creating a red trail.

"I will teach you how to paint."